


If You Give a Seeker a Book

by rhetoricalrogue



Series: Inquisition, but Make it Modern [1]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, No Plot/Plotless, Non-Linear Narrative, Originally Posted on Tumblr
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-07
Updated: 2020-05-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:13:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24049489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rhetoricalrogue/pseuds/rhetoricalrogue
Summary: "Who still rents movies?  I thought these kind of places went out of business during the Storm Age."  Collection of one-shot drabbles and ficlets written between 2017 and 2019 focusing on a modern take of Rolfe Trevelyan.
Relationships: Cassandra Pentaghast/Male Trevelyan, Cassandra Pentaghast/Non-Inquisitor Trevelyan
Series: Inquisition, but Make it Modern [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1734946
Kudos: 6





	If You Give a Seeker a Book

**Author's Note:**

> I'm in the process of digging through my Tumblr archive and moving pieces I've written from there over here. While there are vague implications that the events of Inquisition are still happening in the background, there is absolutely no plot to these stories; they were mostly written because I had a mighty need to have Rolfe ride a motorcycle, own a leather jacket, and put bear emojis around Cassandra's name in his phone's contacts.
> 
> This was a request from January 2017 with the prompt of "offer me."

It was a rare treat for Cassandra to have a night to herself. She had to admit that there _was_ a bonus to having a third investigator on the team, and with her workload lightened, not only was she off on a Friday night, but she actually got to leave the office at a decent hour. She had thought to celebrate the occasion by treating herself to a nice meal at a restaurant, but then her car automatically found its way to her favorite place in all of southern Thedas: the local bookstore.

She had several paperbacks in her arms and was reaching for another when someone cleared their throat behind her.

“Romance novels?” Cassandra whirled around, feeling as if she had gotten caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

“ _Trevelyan_.”

He raised an eyebrow and gave her a half-smile. “Pentaghast.” Tipping his chin towards the stack of books she now had clutched to her chest, he continued. “I wouldn’t have guessed you the type to binge read cheesy novels. You strike me as more the true crime genre.”

Cassandra huffed. “So I’m not allowed a hobby?”

“No, no, read on.” He shifted his weight on one leg as he leaned against one of the shelves. “I _like_ knowing that underneath that crisp exterior lies a sentimental heart.”

“You say that as if it were a bad thing,” she told him, narrowing her eyes. The grip she had on her books tightened as she pressed them closer to her chest, almost as if she were protecting them from his critical stare. “What are you doing here?”

Rolfe pushed himself off the shelf and began browsing titles. “I’m still learning the lay of the land, and I saw this place had movie rentals. Seeing that I haven’t gotten around to getting cable yet, I thought I’d get something to entertain myself over the weekend.” He pulled a book out and began to snicker at the synopsis on the back of the cover. “Who still rents movies, by the way? I thought stores like this went out of business during the Storm Age.”

“Apparently you do,” she answered dryly, picking out the book that she had been reaching for before Rolfe had disturbed her and adding it to her pile. “Let me guess: they’re all action movies full of explosions.”

“I’m offended that you would box me into a single genre. I’ll have you know that I only have _one_ such movie, and it’s mostly for work.” He pulled out a DVD from the three he was carrying. “I’m looking into the case of that hack writer for Varric. Apparently their _Hard in Hightown 2: Siege Harder_ made it to the Direct to DVD section. I’m anticipating my brains leaking out of my ears from bad acting by the time the credits run.”

One of the titles caught her eye. “Brother Genitivi? I didn’t know you liked documentaries.”

Rolfe shrugged and waved the two _In the Pursuit of Knowledge_ cases. “Not normally, no. But Ravena asked me to go with her to this lyceum lecture series that he’s speaking at next week. She’s a big fan and I while I know a _little_ about his work, I thought that it would be good to go in there knowing a bit more so I’m not sitting in my seat with this blank expression on my face the entire time.” He gestured to the hardback book at the bottom of his stack. “It’s his newest release; ‘Vena can get a bit star-struck and knowing her, she’ll wind up kicking herself for forgetting to get anything for autographs. I figured it would be a nice Satinalia present for her.”

Cassandra’s expression softened at his thoughtfulness. “That was nice of you to think of her,” she said.

“We haven’t had much of a chance to hang out since I got into town and…” he gave another shrug. “Ravena’s more like a sister than a cousin to me. I’m not on good terms with my own sister, so I tend to keep the relatives I _do_ have a good relationship with close.”

There was a hardness in his eyes that hadn’t been there before, but it was gone with a little sigh before Cassandra could comment on it. “ _Anyway_ ,” Rolfe’s fingers skimmed another shelf before landing on a book displayed face-out. “What do you think of this one? See the resemblance?”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s uncanny,” she deadpanned, noticing the quick way he changed the subject. There actually was a slight similarity to the cover model for _The Lady’s_ _Favor_ 's sharp cheekbones and piercing blue eyes. If she ignored the long, flowing blonde hair, it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine Rolfe in a similar costume…

He seemed to read her thoughts. “Ah ha. You’re thinking it. _Would Ser Trevelyan look as dashing as this man, all oiled up and bare-chested?_ Well, I’ll have you know that I most definitely _would_.” He took one of the books off the stack and gave the Avvar warrior on the cover a critical look. “I may not have a fur loincloth lying around to try on, but I _do_ have a pair of leather pants somewhere in the boxes I haven’t gotten around to unpacking yet. If you like, I could dig them out and model them for you.”

Cassandra let out a huff at his expression, wiggled eyebrows and all. “Are you _ever_ not flirting with anyone?” She snatched the book out of his hands and against her better judgement, added it to her growing pile.

He grinned, unrepentant. “Only when I’m asleep, and even then that's questionable.” Still smiling, he tilted his head. “I may not have much in the way of furniture yet, but would you want to come over and see the movie of Big Explosions and Bad Acting with me?”

“You’re asking me out.”

His eyes widened innocently. “Why Cassandra Pentaghast! What gave you _that_ idea? This is for _work_ : Varric is one of our clients! I’m shocked and scandalized that you would think I’d sink to that level of unprofessionalism.” It would have been more believable if Rolfe hadn’t had a huge toothy smirk on his face as he tried to sound offended.

She frowned, more at herself than at his antics when she felt her face heat up. She never was a delicate blusher, she went from normal to beet red most of the time. “I can never tell when you’re being serious, if you ever _are_ serious.”

“It’s part of my charm.” He shifted the movies that were resting in the crook of his arm. “So, was that a no?”

She let out a frustrated noise in the place of a yes or no answer, elbowing her way past him to continue browsing the shelves. She pointedly ignored him, listening as he chuckled before leaving the section. She stayed where she was, not really reading the backs of the books she had picked out, listening as the lone register rang someone up. She couldn’t quite hear the conversation, but she picked out the sound of Rolfe’s voice as he made small talk with the cashier before the bells hanging on the door jingled, sounding his departure. She waited a few more minutes before collecting her books and making her way towards the front of the store.

She was digging out her wallet from her purse when the cashier stopped her. “It’s been paid for,” the girl said, a huge smile on her face.

“There must be some misunderstanding,” Cassandra said, frowning in confusion.

“No, the guy that was just in here, he left this.” She handed Cassandra a folded up slip of paper.

_Don’t get mad,_ it read, Rolfe’s bold handwriting neatly printed on the blank receipt paper. _You won’t take me up on my offer to buy you a drink, so I thought I’d take a chance and buy you books instead._

Cassandra couldn’t stop the smile from forming if her life depended on it. Her eyes scanned the short note again, and she realized he had added a post script.

_PS – if you change your mind about the movie, it’s a 5-day rental._

“That man,” she muttered, huffing out a fond laugh as butterflies fluttered in her stomach. She thanked the cashier and looped the plastic bag her books were in around her wrist. She got into her car and drummed her fingers against the steering wheel. Pulling out her phone, she scrolled through her contacts until she got to Rolfe’s name. Before she thought better of it, she pressed the _call_ button.

He picked up on the second ring. “What kind of pizza do you like?” she asked in a rush, not giving him time to say anything. “If we’re doing _research_ for a case at your place, it would be rude of me to show up empty-handed.”

“Anything as long as it doesn’t have mushrooms on it.” He paused. “I didn’t overstep with the books?”

She bit her lip. “It was…a surprise.”

“A good one?”  
  
“It wasn’t unpleasant.”

She could hear the amusement in his voice. “Is that why you changed your mind on the movie date?”

She turned on her car. “It isn’t a _date_ ,” she told him primly. “We’re doing research.”

“Research, right.”

“For the case.”

“Exactly.” He paused a beat. “Hey, do you like pretzels?”

“What?”

“Fresh baked pretzels. See, the guys that cook at the bar below my apartment owe me a meal or two for doing some free bartending and I was wondering if you wanted something else to go with the pizza. They have this _amazing_ cheesy beer dip that goes with them and…” he stopped himself with a laugh. “And I’m rambling.”

She laughed with him. “You are.” Clearing her throat, she eased out of her parking spot and drove off towards one of hers and Leliana’s favorite pizza places. They went there so often that the owners pretty much always had their order in the oven as soon as they walked in. “It’s a pleasant change from the overconfident personality you’re always pulling.”

“Hey, it isn’t every day that I have an attractive woman show up at my place with food, work related or not.”

“Somehow I doubt it. You’re over the Herald’s Rest, right? I’ll be over in less than twenty minutes.” Hanging up, she leaned back against the leather seat and thumped her head against the headrest. “What are you doing, Cassandra?” she asked herself, eyes flicking towards the rearview mirror. She’d be lying if she said that she didn’t find Rolfe Trevelyan attractive and charming. She was flattered and baffled by his interest in her; she was blunt and difficult and self-righteous and not usually the first pick for _any_ man to try to get into a relationship with. She’d long resigned herself to never getting the ideal courtship, but…

The traffic light turned green. She was aware of the crinkle of plastic as the bag on the passenger side floorboards shifted as she crossed the intersection. _No one_ had ever bought her books before. Allowing herself a dreamy sigh, she turned down the street the pizzeria was at.

Would it be such a bad thing if she allowed herself to drop her guard just a _little_ around him? She didn’t know the answer, but maybe it wouldn’t hurt to find out.


End file.
